Man City owners target African expansion in City Football Group

Manchester City's owners are looking into adding an African team to their group of teams around the world in a move that would give them a presence on every continent.

City Football Group is the parent company of City and 12 other clubs, including recent additions Palermo (Italy) and Bahia (Brazil). The aim of the ownership is for each club to have its own identity for its location in the world but also to tie into a global set of values that can be seen across each partner.

As other clubs now belatedly consider going down the path that City CEO Ferran Soriano has led City on, the Blues are not stepping back. Investment continues into City as the flagship club despite them achieving their 'obsession' of the Champions League, and there are also more opportunities expected across the group.

“We now have 13 football clubs in 13 different countries. The last clubs to join were Palermo in Italy, and Bahia in Brazil. Bahia is a gigantic club, based in the city of Salvador, in the state of Bahia that has 15 million inhabitants," said Soriano.

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"They have 50,000 people attending the games and it’s a great opportunity to develop. Also Palermo, a club that we plan to take to the Italian first division.

"So we have plenty to do with all these clubs in America, Asia and Europe, but there may be some other growth."